Posted By Viva Sarah Press On October 24, 2013 @ 12:00 am In Israel in the Spotlight | 1 Comment

Pressy is about to make your smartphone more fun.

What do a folding bicycle lock, optical-illusion candlesticks, and a health wristband have to do with one another? They’re the newest generation of Israeli creativity now sweeping crowdsourcing networks.

You’ve heard of Waze, PillCam and Disk-On-Key. Now, it’s time to get updated with the likes of Foldylock, Flatlight, Pressy, Cat2See and Angel sensor.

Will Foldylock transform the way you secure your bike?

1. Foldylock is a folding bike lock. The lock unfolds to 90 centimeters long but just as easily folds up into a small case that can be carried on the bike frame. The Tel Aviv creative team behind it is currently running a Kickstarter campaign and has successfully trebled its initial funding goals.

2. Cat2See, it seems, wants to give cats what DogTV has given the pooch world. Cat2See keeps your feline friend amused with an innovative game and feeder while you get to see the fun via webcam. The two entrepreneurs behind this Kfar Saba venture have launched a campaign on indiegogo seeking support from cat lovers near and far.

3. The Flatlight will take your candlelight dinners to the next level. Studio Cheha in Tel Aviv is all about combining art and design in order to produce everyday objects with a twist. The Flatlight is a 2D/3D optical illusion candleholder that MC Escher would have been happy to call his own. The Kickstarter campaign has dozens of backers so far, and has already met its goal.

4. The Angel wristband monitors pulse, temperature, activity and blood oxygen level. It’s a technology-meets-health super contraption that has dozens of potential uses including acting as a sleep monitor, workout tracker, fertility calendar, heart minder and even an alarm clock. The Tel Aviv-based company designed it to be a developer’s health monitoring system. TechCrunch dubbed it a “Fitbit for hackers.” Hoping to gain FDA approval, the Angel crew turned to crowdsourcing for fundraising.

5. Pressy is the hardware button you’ve always wanted for your Android. Having run an amazingly successful Kickstarter campaign – raising 15 times the initial goal – best friends Nimrod Back (industrial engineer, app developer) and Boaz Mendel (product designer) are about to make taking a photo, turning on the flashlight and checking in to social media so much easier for smartphone users. Plug in the Pressy hardware button, download the app and then it’s just about clicking the right number of times for actions to work.